1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shield connector structure which includes a conductive connector attachment portion and a pair of connectors each having a conductive shield shell for covering a connector housing used to accommodate a terminal metal part, and which allows the shield shell to contact with the connector attachment portion so that noise or the like is grounded.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various electronic devices are mounted to an automobile that is a moving vehicle. For this reason, the automobile is provided with a wire harness in order to supply a signal or a power to the above-described electronic devices. Such a wire harness includes plural electric wires and connectors attached to the electric wires.
In the above-described automobile, for example, an electric automobile, a hybrid automobile, or a fuel-cell automobile, a driving motor may be configured as a three-phase AC motor. However, since a power having a high voltage is supplied to this kind of driving motor, a problem arises in that electric noise leaks to the outside from a terminal metal part of a connector used to supply a power to the above-described motor or electric noise flows from the terminal metal part to another terminal metal part.
As a technique for solving such problems, for example, a shield connector (for example, see Patent Document 1) is proposed. The shield connector includes an insulating connector housing which includes a terminal accommodation portion for accommodating a terminal metal part and an outer housing disposed on the outside of the terminal accommodation portion; a conductive inner shield shell which covers the terminal accommodation portion; and a conductive outer shield shell which is formed as a member separate from the inner shield shell and contacts with the inner shield shell so as to cover the outer housing. In addition, one ends of the inner shield shell and the outer shield shell are grounded.
A shield connector which is opposed to the shield connector so as to be fitted thereto includes, for example, an insulating connector housing which has a terminal accommodation portion for accommodating a terminal metal part; and a conductive shield shell which covers the connector housing. When the shield connectors are fitted to each other, the shield shell is electrically connected to the inner shield shell. Subsequently, electric noise leaking to the outside from the terminal metal part or electric noise entering the terminal metal part is changed to a return current. After the return current flows from the shield shell to the inner shield shell, the return current flows from the inner shield shell or the inner shield shell and the outer shield shell so as to be discharged to the outside.
Patent Document 1: JP-A-2006-310164
However, since a part of the above-described electric noise flows from the shield shell of the opposed shield connector to the outer shield shell via the inner shield shell of the shield connector so as to be discharged to the outside, a path from the shield shell to the outer shield shell becomes long, and a return current cannot flow due to an electric resistance in the path, thereby causing a problem in that electric noise cannot be sufficiently discharged.